The present invention relates generally to machines for interconnecting terminals with wire, and more particularly to wire wrap apparatus for stripping and wrapping wires about a terminal to form an electrical connection to the terminal. The wire wrap apparatus of the present invention has particular utility for stripping and wrapping film insulated magnet wire and will be described specifically in connection with such utility, although other uses are contemplated.
Wire wrapping tools have been widely used in the past for making connections between insulated wires and terminals. However, due to the difficulty of removing the insulating film normally used in the magnet wire these tools have not been commercially applied to the production of wire wrapped electrical connections using film insulated magnet wire. Such an insulating film is commonly formed of enamel, or a synthetic polymer fiber such as polyester, polyvinide, nylon or Teflon of 0.0001 to 0.002 mil thickness, tenaciously adhered to the metallic wire. Such a film cannot adequately be stripped, as a film, from the base wire by wrapping tools, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,781,932 to Baker, Galloup and Bos which is owned by the assignee of the present invention. The prior art devices, such as shown in the above-mentioned patent and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,327,781 to Zach; 4,051,875 to Baker and Galloup, also owned by applicant's assignee; and 3,967,661 to Scoville and Tipton all rely upon slitting of the flexible insulation and peeling a portion of the insulation away from the wire. Such prior art devices do not work adequately with the tenacious film insulation normally used on film insulated magnet wire without creating severe conductor damage.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved wire wrapping tool which overcomes the aforesaid and other problems of the prior art. Another object is to provide a novel and improved wire wrapping tool which is capable of stripping film insulation from magnet wire and producing gas tight wire wrapped electrical connections using film insulated magnet wire.
Still other objects will in part appear obvious and will in part appear herinafter.
The invention accordingly comprises the apparatus processing the features, properties and relations of elements which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure and the scope of application of which will be indicated in the claims.